Land Trust offers unique glimpse at unique Whiteside Cove property

The Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust and John Warren will lead an Eco Tour to Timber Ridge, part of the Warren Estate conservation easement near Highlands, on Sept. 20. Eco tours are $35 for new friends of the land trust and include a guided tour, lunch and an HCLT membership.

The land is of significant historical importance to Jackson County. In 1820 Barak Norton, one of the early pioneers to this region, settled on the picturesque property located in Whiteside Cove. Sarah Whiteside Norton, the first white child of settlers in Jackson County, was born there.

In 1934 James E. Warren purchased the 300 acres and built a chestnut log cabin there. In 1971 James’ grandson, John, and his wife Marsha moved back to the area and began restoration of the family cabin, which had been deserted for 20 years. After three years work, they made it their home. At James’ death, the 300-acre estate was left in a family trust.

John and Marsha placed 132 acres into a conservation easement with Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust (HCLT). The Warren Estate is home to Polly’s Branch, part of the headwaters of the Chattooga River, a National Wild and Scenic River. Numerous rare and endangered plant species have been identified on the land, and the surrounding forest serves as wildlife habitat for many animals, birds and fish that will remain protected in perpetuity.

Reading Room

So, Scout (Jean Louise) comes back home to Maycomb — where “everyone is either kin or almost kin”— at age 26 and after being “away” and living in New York City for several years. Sixteen years have gone by since we last heard from her in the pages of To Kill a Mockingbird, and the Maycomb she comes home to isn’t the same Maycomb we know from the 1960 novel.

This Must Be the Place

For the better part of the last decade, my life during the summer was music festivals. From Maine to California, Michigan to Arkansas, I was there, in an endless crowd, cheering on the greatest musicians of our time. In those innumerable moments, I felt more alive, at home, and at peace, than anywhere else in the world.